Resistive exercise apparatus

ABSTRACT

An exercise apparatus is disclosed, which comprises a cushioned strap for providing a soft contact with a person&#39;s body when the exercise apparatus being used for a sit-on-chair exercise, and an elastic strip attached to ends of the cushioned strap to form a closed loop therewith, the elastic strip providing a resistive force to an exercising person when a portion of the elastic strip is restricted by a chair the exercising person sits on.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to body exercise apparatus andmethod, and, more particularly, to chair-based resistive exerciseapparatus and method.

A need to exercise torso muscles to well recognized especial for officeworkers. Numerous chair-based exercise systems are well known in theart. However most of the chair-based exercise systems require speciallymade chairs to accommodate resistive devices for performing the torsoexercises. Those specially made chairs are not only uneconomical butalso more or less defeat the purpose of a chair to be used in an officefor work.

As such, what is desired is an apparatus for utilizing a regular chairto perform resistive exercises, particularly for the torso muscles ofthe body.

SUMMARY

The present invention discloses an exercise apparatus. According to oneaspect of the present invention, the exercise apparatus comprises acushioned strap for providing a soft contact with a person's body whenthe exercise apparatus being used for a sit-on-chair exercise, and anelastic strip attached to ends of the cushioned strap to form a closedloop therewith, the elastic strip providing a resistive force to anexercising person when a portion of the elastic strip is restricted by achair the exercising person sits on.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the exerciseapparatus comprises a cushioned strap for providing a soft contact witha person's body when the exercise apparatus is used for a sit-on-chairexercise, a first and a second elastic strip attached to each end of thecushioned strap, respectively, and a length-adjustable strip attached toboth the first and the second elastic strip, the length-adjustable striphaving a variable length, wherein the cushioned strap, the first andsecond elastic strips and the length-adjustable strip form a closedloop, and the first and the second elastic strips provide a resistiveforce to an exercising person when the length-adjustable strip isrestricted by a chair the exercising person sits on.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, theexercise apparatus comprises a cushioned strap for providing a softcontact with a person's body when the exercise apparatus is used for asit-on-chair exercise, a first and a second elastic strip attached toeach end of the cushioned strap, respectively, and a length-adjustablestrip attached to both the first and the second elastic strip by atleast one hooking device, the length-adjustable strip having a variablelength, wherein the cushioned strap, the first and second elasticstrips, the hooking device and the length-adjustable strip form a closedloop, and the first and the second elastic strips provide a resistiveforce to an exercising person when the length-adjustable strip isrestricted by a chair the exercising person sits on, and wherein whenthe hooking device is unhooked, one end of the length-adjustable stripis detached from the first or the second elastic strip by the hookingdevice.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however,together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be bestunderstood from the following description of specific embodiments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a method for exercising torso muscles of thebody according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an elastic strip apparatus for performing theexercises depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B.

The drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification areincluded to depict certain aspects of the invention. A clearerconception of the invention, and of the components and operation ofsystems provided with the invention, will become more readily apparentby referring to the exemplary, and therefore non-limiting, embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, wherein like reference numbers (if theyoccur in more than one view) designate the same elements. The inventionmay be better understood by reference to one or more of these drawingsin combination with the description presented herein.

DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a method for exercising the torso muscles ofthe body according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referringto FIG. 1A, a person 102 sits on a regular office chair 104 with anelastic strip apparatus 110 having a cushioned portion 112 strapped overthe back of the person's head. The elastic strip apparatus 110 forms aclosed loop (not shown) with a the cushioned portion 112 strapping overthe person's head, and another portion 114 loops around a supportingpole 106 of the office chair 104. The elastic strip apparatus 110 isstretched in front of the person 102, so that the elastic stripapparatus 110 provides a resistive force against the person's upper bodymoving upward from a bent down position. The cushioned portion 112 ofthe elastic strip apparatus 110 is padded with a soft cushion so thatthe strapping does not hurt the person's head. A skilled in the art mayimmediately recognize that the cushioned portion 112 can be strappedover the neck or the shoulders of the person 102 instead.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the same person 102 also sits on the regularoffice chair 104, but the elastic strip apparatus 110 is stretchedbehind the person 102 with the cushioned portion 112 strapped over theforehead of the person 102, and the portion 114 loops around thesupporting pole 106 of the office chair 104. Therefore, the elasticstrip apparatus 110 provides a resistive force against the person'supper body moving forward. A skilled in the art may immediatelyrecognize that the cushioned portion 112 can instead be strapped overthe shoulders of the person 102.

Although FIGS. 1A and 1B depicts only back and forth movement of theperson 102 for exercising the abdominal and back muscles, a skilled inthe art may recognize that the elastic strip apparatus 110 can alsoprovide resistive force for side-to-side movement of the person 102 whenthe elastic strip apparatus 110 is stretched around a side of the officechair 104 and the cushioned portion 112 of the elastic strip apparatus110 is strapped over either a side of the neck or a shoulder of theperson 102 (not shown).

FIG. 2 illustrates an implementation of the elastic strip apparatus 110for performing the exercises depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The elasticstrip apparatus 110 has a cushioned portion 112, a pair of symmetricalelastic portions 205, and a length-adjustable portion 210, along withtwo pairs of symmetrical joints 220 and 230 forming a closed loop. Thecushioned portion 112 is generally non-elastic and padded a soft member(not shown). The cushioned portion 112 provides a soft contact to thebody. The elastic portion 205 is made of a rubber tube. Different wallthicknesses and diameters of the rubber tube can provide differentresistive forces to meet the needs of people with different strengths.

Referring again to FIG. 2, a first end of the elastic portion 205 isattached to the cushioned portion 112 by the joint 220. A second end ofthe elastic portion 205 is attached to the length-adjustable portion 210by the joint 230. The joint 220 is conventionally made of a metal ring223 riveted through a fabric strip 225 which in term is sewed to an endof the cushioned portion 112. The first end of the elastic portion 205is inserted through the metal ring 223. A bulge 228 provided at thefirst end of elastic portion 205 prevents the first end of the elasticportion 205 from slipping through the metal ring 223, so that theelastic portion 205 and the cushioned portion 112 are joined. The joint230 is similarly constructed with a metal ring 233, a fabric strip 235and a bulge 238 at the second end of the elastic portion 205. The fabricstrip 235 is attached with a ring 239 for linking the joint 230 with thelength-adjustable portion 210.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the length-adjustable portion 210 iscustomarily made of a non-elastic fabric strip. A ring fixture 212attached to one end of the non-elastic fabric strip allows a part or thewhole length of the length-adjustable portion 210 to be double folded.With a fixed overall strip length, the longer the folded portion 214,the shorter the length-adjustable portion 210. Adjusting the length ofthe length-adjustable portion 210 is to meet the needs of people withdifferent body sizes.

Referring again to FIG. 2, at each end of the length-adjustable portion210, a self-lock hook 215 is attached. The self-lock hook 215 hooks upwith the ring 239 to complete the closed loop of the elastic stripapparatus 110. The self-lock hook 215 can be easily unhooked from thering 239 to open up the loop of the elastic strip apparatus 110, therebythe elastic strip apparatus 110 can be easily wrapped around thesupporting pole 106 of the office chair 104. Although FIG. 2 shows thatboth ends of the length-adjustable portion 210 are attached with theself-lock hook 215, a skilled in the art would realize that theself-lock hook 215 is only needed at one end of the length-adjustableportion 210, and the other end can be sewed directly to thecorresponding fabric strip 235. While desirable, the length-adjustableportion 210 can, in fact, be eliminated all together and the elasticportion 205 can be just one continuous piece of a rubber tube, and thesimplified elastic strip apparatus can still perform the exercises asdepicted hereinabove.

The above illustration provides many different embodiments orembodiments for implementing different features of the invention.Specific embodiments of components and processes are described to helpclarify the invention. These are, of course, merely embodiments and arenot intended to limit the invention from that described in the claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodiedin one or more specific examples, it is nevertheless not intended to belimited to the details shown, since various modifications and structuralchanges may be made therein without departing from the spirit of theinvention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construedbroadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention, asset forth in the following claims.

1. An exercise apparatus comprising: a cushioned strap for providing asoft contact with a person's body when the exercise apparatus being usedfor a sit-on-chair exercise; and an elastic strip attached to ends ofthe cushioned strap to form a closed loop therewith, the elastic stripproviding a resistive force to an exercising person when a portion ofthe elastic strip is restricted by a chair the exercising person sitson.
 2. The exercise apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elastic strip ismade of a rubber tube.
 3. The exercise apparatus of claim 1, wherein theelastic strip includes a length-adjustable portion for adjusting thetotal length of the closed loop.
 4. The exercise apparatus of claim 3,wherein the length-adjustable portion is made of a non-elastic fabric.5. The exercise apparatus of claim 3, wherein a length of thelength-adjustable portion is adjustable by double folding a part or thewhole length of the length-adjustable portion.
 6. The exercise apparatusof claim 3, wherein the elastic strip is divided into two separateelastic sections by the length-adjustable portion.
 7. The exerciseapparatus of claim 1, wherein the elastic strip includes at least ahooking device for separating and rejoining two portions of the elasticstrip.
 8. The exercise apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cushioned strapand the elastic strip are attached to each other by at least one hookingdevice, wherein when the hooking device is unhooked, the cushioned strapand the elastic strip are detached by the hooking device.
 9. Theexercise apparatus of claim 1, wherein the portion of the elastic stripis restricted by a supporting pole of the chair.
 10. An exerciseapparatus comprising: a cushioned strap for providing a soft contactwith a person's body when the exercise apparatus is used for asit-on-chair exercise; a first and a second elastic strip attached toeach end of the cushioned strap, respectively; and a length-adjustablestrip attached to both the first and the second elastic strip, thelength-adjustable strip having a variable length, wherein the cushionedstrap, the first and second elastic strips and the length-adjustablestrip form a closed loop, and the first and the second elastic stripsprovide a resistive force to an exercising person when thelength-adjustable strip is restricted by a chair the exercising personsits on.
 11. The exercise apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first andsecond elastic strips are made of rubber tubes.
 12. The exerciseapparatus of claim 10, wherein the length-adjustable strip is made of anon-elastic fabric and a length of the length-adjustable strip isadjustable by double folding a part or the whole length of thelength-adjustable strip.
 13. The exercise apparatus of claim 10, whereinthe first or the second elastic strip is attached to thelength-adjustable strip by a hooking device wherein when the hookingdevice is unhooked, the first or the second elastic strip and thelength-adjustable strip are detached by the hooking device.
 14. Theexercise apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first or the second elasticstrip is attached to the cushioned strap by one hooking device, whereinwhen the hooking device is unhooked, the first or the second elasticstrip and the cushioned strap are detached by the hooking device. 15.The exercise apparatus of claim 10, wherein the length-adjustable stripis restricted by a supporting pole of the chair.
 16. An exerciseapparatus comprising: a cushioned strap for providing a soft contactwith a person's body when the exercise apparatus is used for asit-on-chair exercise; a first and a second elastic strip attached toeach end of the cushioned strap, respectively; and a length-adjustablestrip attached to both the first and the second elastic strip by atleast one hooking device, the length-adjustable strip having a variablelength, wherein the cushioned strap, the first and second elasticstrips, the hooking device and the length-adjustable strip form a closedloop, and the first and the second elastic strips provide a resistiveforce to an exercising person when the length-adjustable strip isrestricted by a chair the exercising person sits on, and wherein whenthe hooking device is unhooked, one end of the length-adjustable stripis detached from the first or the second elastic strip by the hookingdevice.
 17. The exercise apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first andsecond elastic strips are made of rubber tubes.
 18. The exerciseapparatus of claim 16, wherein the length-adjustable strip is made of anon-elastic fabric and a length of the length-adjustable strip isadjustable by double folding a part or the whole length of thelength-adjustable strip.
 19. The exercise apparatus of claim 16, whereinthe length-adjustable strip is restricted by a supporting pole of thechair.